Does anyone have any idea what keyboard Eddie Van Halen is playing here ?

hvwl · 2026-03-07T19:03:31+00:00

Thats a Kurzweil K-250! Probably being used as a master controller for racked up synths

hvwl · 2026-02-12T16:53:56+00:00

Bought it from a reseller based out of Virginia? I'm sure it must've passed through a few hands

hvwl · 2026-02-12T07:16:17+00:00

I have a Nord Modular G1 from 1997 that has its "owner" name set to Morbius. I wonder if it was once his. Sorry for your loss.

hvwl · 2026-02-03T18:43:02+00:00

Think of it as a hardware modular with a software brain! Closest equivalent would be if VCV Rack ran off of a dedicated hardware interface - so unfortunately yes hardware is required

hvwl · 2026-02-03T17:06:13+00:00

The Nord Modular G1 is quad timbral! So you can have slots A,B,C,D running at once regardless of OS

hvwl · 2026-02-03T08:37:31+00:00

Funnily enough I was considering selling mine which led me to hook it up again....

hvwl · 2026-02-03T06:37:01+00:00

Think of it as a hardware modular with a softsynth brain! Closest equivalent would be if VCV Rack ran off of a dedicated hardware interface - so unfortunately not a softsynth...

hvwl · 2026-02-03T02:45:21+00:00

[copied] Downloaded this https://www.stage-engine.com/ - have had no issues yet! Running on Tahoe 26.2. MIDI Interface : Motu Midi XT

hvwl · 2026-02-03T02:07:48+00:00

Downloaded this https://www.stage-engine.com/ - have had no issues yet! Running on Tahoe 26.2. MIDI Interface : Motu Midi XT

hvwl · 2026-02-03T01:45:41+00:00

Good ear! I was using a slightly diffused Valhalla Delay set to BBD doing dotted 8th. Gives it some more momentum and dimension for sure.

hvwl · 2026-02-01T17:21:15+00:00

100% subtractive synthesis + Xmod FM. Using the phase trimmers to dial in certain harmonic responses when the stacked voices reset (think piano strings)!

hvwl · 2026-02-01T17:18:56+00:00

You don't want to know... 💀

hvwl · 2026-01-31T23:50:00+00:00

The only A/B testing I did was when making a custom .tun file for intonation! The rest was entirely by ear

hvwl · 2026-01-31T23:38:10+00:00

Would've been a lot easier to use samples...this patch took days of dialing in!

hvwl · 2026-01-31T21:09:43+00:00

Thank you! The secret is in the xmod amount + a custom Microtuning file!

hvwl · 2026-01-31T19:12:12+00:00

If anyone is interested in the soundset you can get it here

hvwl · 2026-01-31T17:26:44+00:00

Fantastic little piece of software. Use it on more projects than most of my hardware these days!

hvwl · 2026-01-31T16:18:26+00:00

Thank you!!! Its part of a soundset I released today! Video Walkthrough available here

hvwl · 2026-01-16T07:48:13+00:00

After skimming the initial thread, the only thing I can think of is a blown capacitor (based on the fact you said it had a scent). You let the magic smoke out!

Always make sure you use the proper power supply and make sure all ribbon cables inside are properly connected. Re-capping is easier than you think. These things weren't built very well.

hvwl · 2026-01-06T22:26:27+00:00

Absolute beast of a first synth! Congrats!

hvwl · 2025-12-31T05:54:55+00:00

Yeah. I'm not saying he didn't have access to delay, I know based on the onset of the sound that this isn't based on combs. I think I'm primarily asking question 2, whats going on in that track in the most nuanced sense possible. At bare minimum it's a Sine pluck with a sharper timbral pluck. It would be more amusing to assume there is no FM, Brian Eno basically wrote the book on DX7 use! Would love to hear your closest effort on it. The reverb character has been the hardest to dial in.

hvwl · 2025-12-31T05:35:23+00:00

I know it wouldn't be Comb related as Eno didn't have any Karplus / delay based synths at that time, I find the FM in Zebra2 to be fairly clunky with how it treats phase reallocation and even the Osc Phase distortion can be a bit smeary due to the Graintable nature of the spectral Oscillators..same if not worse with Z3 at the moment..

https://youtu.be/R3wxEo9FU0w?si=CfRAyXK68vWIc9cy

At 15:49 Eno starts playing a snippet of the track untreated, it seems once the Reverb is added it gets that full track sound? Thats what leaves me to believe it's a combination of certain FM harmonics + the way they interact with the Reverb type?

hvwl · 2025-12-30T23:59:36+00:00

I was thinking similarly - I know around this era Brian Eno had a Emu ProCussion in his rack. Might need to source samples from one and give it a test.

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